Business

4:29 pm

Thu October 18, 2012

AMD Confirms Plans to Lay Off 15 Percent of Workforce

The southwest Austin campus of AMD. The chipmaker said today they plan to lay off 15 percent of its workforce worldwide.

http://bit.ly/Qv3vtb

Computer chipmaker AMD announced this afternoon that it’s laying off 15 percent of its workforce.

AMD is based in Silicon Valley, but employs about 25,000 people at its southwest Austin campus. The company says poor earnings and falling sales have forced cost-cutting measures.

Analysts say AMD has suffered from an overall slowdown in computer sales as consumers have switched to tablets and smartphones—the same trend that has hurt Austin-based Dell. Hans Mosesmann is an investment analyst specializing in semiconductors. He says that while AMD is slimming down today to be smaller and more flexible, the company may soon be hiring again.

"There will likely be a replacement process to seek talent, not just in engineering but also in marketing that would allow them to address some of the new opportunities that they have going forward," Mosesmann says.

KUT has asked for comment on what impact the layoffs will have on its Austin workforce.